News

RATIARIA - what exactly happens with the Bulgarian archaeology?

The destruction of the Roman colony Ratiaria at the South bank of the Danube river is very well known. Some of the international organisation such as ICOMOS even put "The case Ratiaria" into the World report 2011-2013 on monuments and sites in danger. The paradox in this situation is that exactly in 2013 the Ministry of Culture in Bulgaria start funding the site and the archaeological excavations here were officially reopened under the guidance of the National Archaeological Institute. And so - RATIARIA WAS FORGOTTEN!

What exactly happens with Bulgarian archaeology? Was Ratiaria preserved after the intervention of the National Archaeological Institute and was the site protected by the Ministry of Culture? The media publications after 2013 sounds as a horror chronicle ...

CALL FOR PAPERS

The editorial board of Archaeologia Iuventa opens a call for papers session for the second volume of the journal. Archaeologia Iuventa supports young researchers in the area of archaeology, anthropology, monuments and national heritage preservation and all interdisciplinary sciences connected with the study of the past. The focus of the journal is on the region of South-eastern Europe, especially on the Balkans peninsula but any other studies are very welcome insofar as such a topics as the principles of preservation of the material culture and theoretical questions can't be limit in concrete geographical area.

The emphasis of the journal is the new generation of scientists and we welcome the new approaches to the old problems and open mind and objectively comprehension of the past. In this regard any new interpretations or advanced methods of studies will be published without any restrictions.

New book

The ancient city of Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ratiaria is the most important Roman and Byzantine center in today’s North-Western Bulgaria and capital of Dacia Ripensis. Its remains are located in “Kaleto” on the eastern outskirts of the village of Archar, Vidin district, near the Danube (Bulgaria).

The first serious research of the town was implemented in 1952 and continue till 1991 when were canceled. Since then, for over twenty years, instead of being an object of scientific researches and touristic attraction, the place has been a crime scene of treasure-hunters’ invasion and illegal traffic of cultural artefacts.

In 2009 the Bulgarian Archaeological Association (BAA) started a campaign for saving the capital of Dacia Ripensis and reopening the scientific researches here. The present book is result mainly of these researches implemented by the archaeologist Krassimira Luka.